Modeling and Finite Element Analysis of Chain Drive using Different Materials

In any automobile the power is transmitted from one shaft to another by using chain drive. Chain drive consists of chain, driving sprocket and driven sprocket. The driving sprocket is connected to engine output shaft, which transfer power to driven sprocket by chain. Further this driven sprocket transfer power to drive shaft. The design and material selection of this chain drive plays a vital role in efficient running of the automobile. Present the material used for chain drive is mild steel. This paper involves increases the strength of the Pulsar 180cc chain drive by selecting the different materials (AISI 1050 steel, EN 8 steel, EN 32 steel, EN 19 steel and C45 steel). In this the Pulsar 180cc chain drive designed through reverse engineering approach and detailed finite element analysis is carried out to calculate stresses and deflections on the chain drive. Later the analysis is extended to fatigue analysis to estimate the life of the chain drive and the dynamic analysis is carried out to calculate stresses and deflections on the chain drive when it is in motion. SOLID WORKS software is used for doing 3D model of chain drive and ANSYS is used for doing finite element analysis.

Method for determining the optimal parameters of the chain transmission, taking into account the design of the drive chain

Goal . Develop the design of the drive plate chain and methods for determining the optimal parameters of the chain transmission. Methods. Analysis of the designs of standard drive bushing and roller chains, as well as the drive plate chain with internal engagement. Determination of ways to increase the durability of these chains and chain gears from the condition of ensuring the wear resistance of their hinges and increasing their technical and economic indicators. Results . The analysis of designs of standard drive bushing-roller chains and drive plate chains with internal gearing is performed. A promising design of the drive plate chain has been developed. The optimization of transmission parameters, both with standard chains, and with the chain proposed by the authors, providing an increase in their durability and efficiency. In this regard, a method has been developed for determining the greatest elongation of standard chain links, as well as the chain developed by the authors, from the condition of wear resistance of their hinges. A method for determining the optimal transmission ratio of these chain gears has also been developed. It is established that the gear ratio of the transmission with the drive plate chain developed by the authors is determined primarily by the accuracy of manufacturing its hinges. With sufficiently precise manufacturing of chain hinge parts, the gear ratio can be significantly increased, up to u=10 and higher. This will allow you to use gears equipped with this chain in drives with a large gear ratio.

COMPUTATION OF PLATE GEOMETRY OF DRIVE CHAIN FOR VALVE TIMING GEARS OF VEHICLES

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the geometric parameters of the plates of roller chains used in the supply of gas distribution mechanisms of motor vehicles. The method used is an analytical representation of the dependencies of the plate shape. The relevance of the proposed approach is justified by the great complexity of pre-design studies for choosing the type of drive chain of various mechanisms. Main results-dependences are proposed for determining the area of plates both with the "eight" type shape of the inner link of a standard roller (bushing) chain, and plates with straight side faces, and it is reasonable to choose the design of the drive chain for the specified operating loading conditions. Dependencies have a scientific novelty and practical significance when used in the production activities of employees of technological departments and design services of machine-building and auto repair enterprises.

Fault Diagnosis Approach of Main Drive Chain in Wind Turbine Based on Data Fusion

The construction and operation of wind turbines have become an important part of the development of smart cities. However, the fault of the main drive chain often causes the outage of wind turbines, which has a serious impact on the normal operation of wind turbines in smart cities. In order to overcome the shortcomings of the commonly used main drive chain fault diagnosis method that only uses a single data source, a fault feature extraction and fault diagnosis approach based on data source fusion is proposed. By fusing two data sources, the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) real-time monitoring system data and the main drive chain vibration monitoring data, the fault features of the main drive chain are jointly extracted, and an intelligent fault diagnosis model for the main drive chain in wind turbine based on data fusion is established. The diagnosis results of actual cases certify that the fault diagnosis model based on the fusion of two data sources is able to locate faults of the main drive chain in the wind turbine accurately and provide solid technical support for the high-efficient operation and maintenance of wind turbines.

Are super-long escalators safe? Lessons learned from the Langham Place escalator incident in Hong Kong

Super-long escalators that are increasingly used in mega-cities take up a large number of passengers, and so their risk of sudden failure draws serious attention. As a case study, on 25 March 2017, an escalator with a 21 m elevation in Hong Kong’s Langham Place had its main drive chain suddenly snapped by metal fatigue, causing the escalator to reverse at an accelerating speed. A number of passengers were injured. In this paper, two issues will be discussed: (1) whether metal fatigue of the main drive chain can be detected with conventional protocols, and (2) what safety factor is needed to prevent metal fatigue. Analysis shows that initial fatigue cracks in escalator drive chains may not be easily detected with the commonly adopted maintenance protocol. Also, the time window from the emergence of clear signs of fatigue failure to the sudden snapping of the drive chain may be as short as weeks or even days, versus the common safety inspection intervals of six months. The safety factor to prevent metal fatigue of the drive chain should be at least 7, whereas lower values are currently allowed. It is suggested that the government should review the legal requirements to meet the recommended value.

Analysis of the Risks of Hydrogen Leakage from Hydrogen-Powered Cars and Their Possible Impact on Automotive Market Share Increase

For the safe operation of a hydrogen-powered car, one of the strategic requirements is to design the drive chain so that it is burdened with the least possible risk. At the same time, in order to be able to use it in normal operation, it is necessary to create a risk management system throughout the life of the car so that risks are minimized to the level of their acceptability not only by customers but also by a comprehensive infrastructure during its technical life. Experience has shown that one of the decisive risks in the operation of a hydrogen-powered car is the leakage of hydrogen from the car’s fuel system. The article analyzes the pressure effects on obstacles in the explosion of 1 m3 of a stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and air. The analysis of the instantaneous pressures as a function of time describes the possible consequences for the human body and the surrounding objects with regard to the distance from the center of the explosion.

Fault Diagnosis of Wind Turbine Gearbox Based on Neighborhood QPSO and Improved D-S Evidence Theory

Background: Gearbox is the key equipment of wind turbine drive chain. Due to the harsh operating environment of wind turbine, gearbox failures occur frequently. Methods: To improve the accuracy of fault identification for wind turbine gearbox, an intelligent fault diagnosis method based on Neighborhood Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization (NQSPO) and improved Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence theory is proposed. In NQPSO algorithm, the best solution information in the neighborhood is introduced to guide the individual search behavior and enhance the population diversity. Also, the consistency coefficient is used to determine the weight of evidence, and the original evidence is amended to enhance the ability of D-S theory to fuse conflict evidence. Results: Experimental results show that the proposed method can overcome the influence of bad evidence on the diagnosis result and has high reliability. Conclusion: The research can effectively improve the accuracy of fault diagnosis of wind turbine gearbox, and provide a feasible idea for the fault diagnosis of nonlinear complex system.